Washington, D.C. – The National Foreign
Trade Council (NFTC) today commended the Senate Finance Committee for scheduling
a September 11 hearing to consider the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
(PTPA). The Peru agreement is
one of four pending free trade agreements (FTA) currently awaiting Congressional
approval, with the others being Colombia, Panama and South
Korea.

“We thank Chairman
Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley for their leadership in making the
Peru trade agreement a priority for
the Senate so soon after the August recess,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch.
“Timely consideration and approval of the PTPA is important to send a signal to
our trading partners in Peru
and the rest of Latin America that we value our
commercial relationship with the region.”

Two-way trade between the
United States and
Peru reached $7.4 billion
during 2005, with $2.3 billion of this coming from U.S. exports.
The PTPA will allow for continued and increased market access for
U.S. goods such as machinery,
electronics, plastics and agricultural products, among others.

“This agreement is well crafted and
is commercially important to both the U.S. and Peruvian business
communities,” said Mary Irace, NFTC Vice President for Trade and Export Finance.
“The announcement of next week’s hearing sets the stage for the start of the
formal Congressional review process and helps pave the way for approval of this
agreement.”

The proposed agreement would
eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade between the U.S. and Peru. Under the PTPA, 80% of consumer
and industrial goods and more than two thirds of U.S.
agricultural exports will become duty-free immediately upon implementation of
the agreement. The majority of remaining tariffs on U.S. farm
exports would be gradually phased out over 15 years, with all to be eliminated
in 17 years.The text of the
agreement was modified in recent months to include robust chapters on labor and
the environment, following the bipartisan agreement on trade reached between
Congress and the Administration in early May.

“We urge the House to
follow suit and begin scheduling hearings on the Peru agreement, as well as work
with the Senate to consider and approve the other three pending trade agreements
as soon as possible during this legislative session,” concluded
Reinsch.

Advancing
Global Commerce for Over 90 Years

The
National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org)
is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global
trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies,
the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in
Washington and New York.